R E C O N N E C T
by CupcakeLerman
Summary: All the pieces—lie where they fell. They laid for years & years; waiting...hoping...That they would be picked up by the chosen one waiting with Keyblade in hand to save the day... Happy 10th anniversary, Kingdom Hearts! *KH3D spoilers*


All the pieces—

lie where they fell.

They laid for years & years

Waiting

Hoping

That they would be picked up

By the chosen one

Waiting with

Keyblade in hand

To save the day—

The one who would open the door.

[ _RE**CONNECT** _]  
_[ contains spoilers for all the games/KH3D ]_

Keeping it together.

That's what he was best at.

He never knew what, but there was always something driving him forward; something

that continued listening to his voice,

and _responding_ by what he needed to know.

He had met so many new friends, new companions, and new acquaintances. He thought highly of all of them; they were all the same.

All his friends.

_All with his..._

[ **I** ]

On a far and foreign land, far from where the chosen one lay, sat a boy, looking up at the

Stars.

The ones he always saw.

But they looked more beautiful than before.

_Don't close your eyes_, he'd command himself. _Don't...don't..._

A familiar face appeared, and the boy is shocked, but he can't afford to even show it. He just

Smiles, and greets the familiar face with a nod. No questions, no voices.

But as easy as they can hide their feelings with a smile, something was different.

_There is someone missing._

The glistening of her eyes brought solid memories back to the two boys, who had found their greatest source of joy watching as she poured her physical compassion into tying knots together in the shape of a star-shaped fruit to make

good luck charms.

"That would be the last night we _ever spent_ beneath the same stars."

_She's not here,_ both of them thought quietly. _She's not..._

[ _RE _CHAIN OF **MEMORIES**]

Darkness in a metaphysical quality began to slowly envelop the small island before it completely engulfed everything in sight, leaving no trace of anything.

The young hero thought nothing that this was his destiny,

because it wasn't.

He had no idea that he had been lucky enough to receive such an immense power at such a young age, but he wasn't able to realize that.

_He was forced into it._

The boy: he woke up, lost, and confused, on a strange land, of all things—_what happened to my island?_

He brushed his head left and right, scoured the small town for any sort of sign of...

them.

_What happened to my friends?_

In the continuance of events, he enlisted the help of two loyal companions, and two who were also in search of someone they couldn't find. They all had something in common—now, what was going to happen?

The optimism of his heart and spirit kept him motivated, pushing him to continue a perilous journey that seemed with no end. He always was searching left and right for any sign of his two best friends. Though, in the far corners of his heart, he also screamed, _Where are they?_

Where are...my friends?

Where are...

...Aqua and Terra...?

[ **II** ]

The boy had somehow succeeded—

Sort of.

The safety of one friend back home and the awaited reuniting of another brought the hero to a place, so mysterious, they could only wonder how they had ended up there.

How...they could've..._arrived_...

The doors opened for them and the stairs grew higher. As the path grew long and tireless, dreams began to plague the boy and his friends. _Dreams_, of being there once before, and dreams in wonder of what they were even doing there

in the first place.

Their worlds had grown dark and quiet, and behind the curtain, the light masters and stage crew went hard at work, prepping the scene and gathering the props...

But there was a defective member.

She sat in a lone room, unsure of what to do—follow her orders, or retreat and play fairly. She didn't want to run the role of puppeteer. Her drawings were enough to however force and alter any memories the hero had.

_Who_...who are you?

She had lost the will to continue. She saw the wrong and injustice being done right in front of her eyes, but her bosses continued to push her, reassuring her that their plan was sure to work out.

"It's my lucky charm; be sure to bring it back to me!"

_Look—of course I had kept it with me..._

Can you really erase the

pain

from memories and replace them...with

_false memories?_

...But is it really true that one can overthrow an entire production and regain what he had lost?

Was it?

"Thank..."

_Thank..._

[ **358/2** _D A Y S_ ]

How...did I end up...here?

The echo of a hero was heard in a different and remote location, a place where not even the voice of light could be formally heard.

Lost souls;

With no purpose—

_Oh, but there was a purpose._

One purpose, of course:

_Kingdom_...

Hearts...

And the echo heard him. He blindly followed along with twelve others what they thought was the way and the truth—

What they thought was the only thing they could do.

But behind the same black curtain that they shrouded upon the hero, another curtain lay just behind their backs. Their goal was one hidden with secrecy and played as though something to look forward to more than kingdom hearts.

And this

was the actual hero himself.

The oblivious echo continued fighting for a group he didn't know was scheming more, but his friend had a hunch. He knew something wasn't right—and he was so close, too.

Until she showed up.

The girl with the black hair.

She was the new member, her eyes a startling shade of blue, her figure surprisingly reminiscent, and her mind hard-wired for one goal in mind—

but the oblivious echo didn't know that.

He fought alongside her, held her hand, and at the end of every work day, invited her to sit with his friend up at the tower, where they'd converse and watch the sunset.

But why'd it have to end so abruptly?

Why'd she have to try to run away, and never see her friends again?

_Why was she at the center of a promise...a promise to always be there...to bring her back?_

And why'd that shameless echo try to catch her...why would he care...

He doesn't have a heart.

So when he dropped his own weapon and held his head in pain, he stood in front of what he thought was a stranger in strangely familiar attire and physique.

_"Who...who are you, again?"_

The girl smiled. Her job was done, she was no longer needed, and she needed to return from where she had once came.

"I'm glad I met you."

As one of her last moments, he held her in his arms, unsure of what to do, when something hit him—

friends.

She's my—

_friend_.

"No! Xion!"

But wait—

Why did he sense sorrow and sadness...anger and resentment...loss and melancholy?

Then, how did he feel it?

"Only seven days to go—"

[ **BIRTH** BY _S L E E_ _P_ ]

"—and my summer vacation will be over."

Regain momentum.

Regain memories.

_Restoration at 97%._

To lose—is to gain—

hearts connected once again.

And the chosen hero was back, his memories reconstructed, his adventures laying in front of him once again, not knowing of the consequences of bringing him back.

He set out in search of his first friend—

but hit a block.

_"Don't ever forget; wherever you go, I'm always with you too..."_

She was missing—

kidnapped.

Stuck in a split decision, he looked farther and farther, defeating multiple enemies and regaining control of the world left to wreck.

Until he came to one world so _broken_ from its terrible production crew.

He found them there—his two best friends, and everything seemed right. Together with them backing his every move, they defeated the lingering darkness and made everything seem right.

But there was yet another thing missing.

_"See, we meet again, like we promised."_

Who was she talking to—

the hero,

or the _echo?_

One last reunion...

"Don't worry, you're still all you," his friend said, and they finally made it back home. She waved to them when they arrived, her smile the first they both saw. _"You're home."_ At this point, everything seemed right—

everything seemed real.

_"I need a name!"_

_"Oh, I know you._

_You're that girl he likes."_

_"You don't remember my name...?"_

_"Alright. I guess I can give you a hint."_

_"Starts with a—"_

[ _RE_ **CODED** ]

Back again, but not in what he'd think he'd be needed.

He lay resting on the island, not knowing about the already impending threat. How could he though?

Meanwhile, the head authorities were caught in a tussle. There was one thing left to figure out.

_"Thank—"_

Data was enlisted to help, instead of interrupting an already shortened reunion. Clearing a database full of coded words and cryptic messages, they finally tried reaching the end.

The data was fixed, the worlds were restored, and it was clear what needed to happen next. It was time

for a test.

Send them in.

_"Thank Naminé."_

Still waiting...

[ _DREAM_ **DROP **_DISTANCE _]

No matter how good they were, there was always someone better.

They trained well, but to face the already ominous thought that the beginning of all their troubles—the perpetrator of whom all this had lain on—was to return, they were sent out by the Master to take a test;

One that had been taken for

many keyblade weilders past.

Anxious and eager, the two friends, the hero and his companion set out on what they believed were two

separate

paths.

Bold and audacious, the chosen one set off to do as he had been told, so he could finally pass the test.

Reserved and a little bit more surprised, his friend set off in the same direction, but there was no sign of his other friend.

But, _where was he?_

The hero would often call out to help from his friend, knowing that he'd always be there to help—

His loud pleas were always answered in a quiet whisper, and the test already seemed in the bag, until—

_"—Even if you are not the prisoner."_

Taunted and coaxed once again by someone he did not know of, but the man had somehow knew of him...

"We need you—

Or, to be precise—

_We need what's left of you."_

Plunging into a deep slumber...

_Wasn't that what I was doing already?_

He raced throughout the landscape, looking for clues and following what he thought were his friends—

But she was there.

His heart finally remembered, and he was truly surprised to see her here—

The puppeteer...

The one he was grateful for.

"I have a message for you—"

_Fulfill the destiny._

But, who was he _actually_ seeing?

In a flicker of the light, she changed. But she seemed...awfully familiar...

_"Who...who are you...again?"_

His own voice stuttered out, but his heart knew loud and clear who this was. It wasn't just his thoughts, it was his

echo.

Breaking out as the last attempt to be heard, he shed a tear. A tear

He could not shed without his own self,

A tear

He had held in for so long,

A tear

He had never forgotten to keep.

The girl disappeared, and it was now time to hear the echo one last time.

_Roxas—I want you to be your own person._

But he can't.

Tossed away memories, the ones discarded after his union with the hero, we're revealed to him, and he couldn't believe what was going on. Frustration and confusion made him yell out,

_"What is that you want me to see?!"—_

and his heart was then stolen;

His body given to the perpetrator,

And his heart trapped in the remnants of somebody

Else.

The hero's friend made it through the entire task, and found himself in the same extraneous world his friend was now in. Aware of what was going on, he searched for any sign of the hero—

But he was much, much closer than he realized.

"Plunged into a deep slumber...

_Before any of this ever started._"

And so he was awoken.

And now, he knew it was time to wake up his friend as well. But by the time he had made it there, it was too late.

"Dreams hold our memories–

_Sleep holds our dreams._"

He fought valiantly, effortlessly, all in the hope that he'd have his best friend back.

_Seven light._

_Thirteen darkness._

With the help of some last-minute old-friends, the boy was able to retrieve his friend—

And when he found him—

He was asleep.

_Drop._

He freed his friend from the chains he was being locked by, and woke up

In a very familiar location.

_I remember you._

_Rox_—

"What is it that you're so afraid of?"

_Losing...the ones I care about..._

His heart answered, and the once-echo humbly obeyed, and let him pass without warning.

In more search of his familiar island, he encountered somebody

Else.

_You're not_—

"What is the one thing you care about the most?"

_The ones...close to my heart..._

Still lost on who he was, he continued, not even realizing

They had met before

On that same island

But, in far more complicated way.

_This isn't him._

And far off in the distance, on the same tree he and his two best friends sat on to watch the sunsets, sat a girl

So familiar to him

That he didn't recognize her.

_"Who...who are you—"_

"Riku. What do you wish?"

_I wish...to keep my friends safe._

And with that, the echo, the other someone, and the puppet dove him out

And he awakened.

Greeted with hugs and congratulations, he was finally assessed to be the new chosen one.

The real keyblade master.

Somewhere far off in the first hero's heart, he was aware now, that long ago, he had given a second chance to someone who needed it the most.

And that boy, Ventus, his heart still fractured and asleep,

He smiled for the first time in years.

But it wasn't the end of the story.

_Seven light._

_Thirteen darkness._

"We have the six, but where's the..."

[ **III** ]

"...seventh?"

"Master, I brought the 'guest' you asked for, but you never said _why_."

"I have come to learn that you can wield a keyblade—"

"I'm glad that you could make it here..."

Her role was finally realized.

Waiting on the island;

Welcoming the boys home;

Wishing good luck before their test;

_"See you soon."_

This was her time.

_Kairi..._

[ _**RE**_CONNECT ]

In the course of events, so much had happened.

So much on the surface,

And so much underneath the surface.

They regained the light in the world,

While some slept in the darkness.

They rescued many lost in the dark,

While some were still wandering.

They saved many hearts trapped under oppression,

While some waited to be awoken.

But somewhere out there, there was someone who had started all this, making amends to what he had done by helping those still wandering with him.

"So many are still waiting, for their new beginning..."

"...Even me. And even you..."

"But that boy would arrive, keyblade in hand, to save the day."

_But wait—_

"By any chance, could they be named Ven or Terra?"

"...neither of those, I'm afraid."

_Lost hope._

"A boy who touches so many hearts..."

He may be the one who sets things right.

_A glimmer of hope._

"What's this boy's name?"

_You know him._

_Of course you do._

"His name is..."

Somewhere lost in the hologram she had been created for, she watched and waited

Drawing to pass the time.

She drew a boy sitting on a half-bent palm tree, watching the sun set.

Somewhere lost in a memory, three best friends, who thought they couldn't feel, felt with a new vibrancy

the colors of the sunset,

the cold that touched their fingers as their ice cream melt,

and the sorrow they collectively felt knowing this wasn't going to happen to again.

Somewhere else lost to the darkness wrought among their land, two friends reawakened to once again look up at the stars together...at least once.

_But someone was missing._

The heavy weight in their pocket of their good luck charms sparked good and bad memories of how their best friend lay wandering the darkness until she could be saved.

But...

_"As long as we have these, we'll never be apart."_

The girl lost in the darkness heard the name, and through heated memories of meeting the boy once, she knew she has regained the hope she had lost so long ago.

All with his _heart_, connected at once, a long network of forgotten and tossed away second chances, given by the one hero who always was there.

_I am who I am because of them._

"Sora..."

* * *

_Sorry about all the crappy spacing at the stupid title names getting messed up. FF doesn't like bold & italicized words separate, so sorry about that :c  
Happy KH 10th anniversary! x_


End file.
